[Husker] Post-game thoughts

[Steve Reichenbach]

I dismiss the folks who talk about Bo's time being short and say that
as long as he's here Nebraska will be mediocre.  These are the same
types of people (or maybe even the same people) who wanted to fire
Devaney in the late 1960s or Osborne in the late 1970s or Osborne in
the early 1990s.  For the most part, they are too quick tempered and
unreasoning to see a bigger picture.  Such people subscribe not just in
football but more broadly to the "grass is greener" perspective and/or
the "quick fix" approach.  Fortunately, those who really are answerable
on such matters generally have come to their positions by making more
rational assessments that "the grass is greener" and use a more
well-founded approach than the "quick fix".  Even with respect to the
foolish mistake of firing Solich, I agree with Mike that it had more to
do with the ADs personal issues than what such noisy fans with fringe
perspectives have to say.  I trust that our new AD has better sense
than these knee-jerk fans and I hope that he and Pelini ignore them as
they deserve.

This year has been a good year for the football team.  Nebraska has ten
wins.  Only ten teams have more wins this year (and two of those play
in the MAC).  NU was the B1G 10 Legends Division Champion and likely
will play in a New Year's bowl game.  Yes, there were disappointments,
but every year, most top programs and top teams find some
disappointment.  This year, the list includes Miami 7-5 and facing
probation, Oklahoma (same regular season record as NU), Texas 8-4,
Michigan 8-4 (loser to Nebraska head-to-head and in the division race),
Penn State 8-4, USC 7-5, Washington 7-5, and LSU 10-2 (same regular
season record as NU).  The list goes on: Arkansas, Auburn, UCLA, Texas
A&M, Colorado, Clemson also had no better or worse records and didn't
win their conference.  Success without any blemish is rare, which is
why it is so wonderful when it occurs, as it occasionally, but not
regularly, has for Nebraska.  You hope to win the championship every
year, but most years it won't happen and to believe otherwise or act as
if it should is not rational.  Bo's teams have put together a string
of good seasons.  I hope that after struggling with what happened
yesterday, the players and team recognize that they've had some great
victories this year and set about getting another one on January 1.

All of that said, there are problems that Bo, his staff, and the
players need to address for the longer term.  In that, I certainly hope
that those who think that what you see is what you get (e.g., wrt Bo)
are wrong.  The path to success usually is learned in the aftermath of
failure.  At the top of my list (created by a someone not very expert
about football) is more talent in the defensive front seven.  Will any
of NU's front seven play in the NFL?  If the answer to that question is
unclear, then it will be difficult to win championships.  Both Devaney
and Osborne had to work through different periods of relative failure
before they led teams to national championships.  It isn't surprising
that Bo is having some lessons in failure during the first years of his
head coaching career.  What we need to see is that there are lessons
learned and applied in the future.